Jerri at Simply Sweet Home

Diamond Candle Review & Giveaway

December 2, 2013 Leave a Comment

Candles and jewelry make great gifts for any occasion, especially the Christmas season. Diamond Candles takes these two great gift ideas and combines them in to one fabulous gift. Diamond Candles look great and like other candles will fill the rooms of your home with a nice scent. And each candle also includes a ring valued anywhere from $10 to $5,000!

And the candles come in some great scents, including Vanilla Lime, Hawaiian Coconut, Honeysuckle, Apple Slice, Cupcake, and more!

For my review, I chose the Gingerbread candle. I love the smell of gingerbread, and I think it’s a great scent not only for the holiday season, but also for fall. I was very pleased with the size of the candle. It’s a great size for decorative purposes and it allows for hours of burning time.

And the scent was great! It’s very sweet, and it quickly feels the room with a refreshing aroma.

I was also happy with the ring I received. It is a yellow marquise shaped stone. It’s big and very bright and sparkly.

I really love my Diamond Candle, and I think these would be great gifts for the holiday season!

Giveaway: One Simply Sweet Home reader will a Diamond Candle in the scent of their choice.

To enter, please use the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a Diamond Candle for review. This giveaway is sponsored by Diamond Candle. The opinions are my own.

Filed Under: decorating, fashion, Giveaways, jewelry, product review Tagged With: candle, decor, Holiday Gift Guide

Sriracha Pineapple Pork Lettuce Wraps from Pei Wei

December 2, 2013 Leave a Comment

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of PeiWei for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

In the mood for a quick lunch, or a how about a delicious dinner? Your local Pei Wei has you covered with their lively fast casual dine-in experience as well as their speedy and convenient to-go service! Pei Wei Asian Diner, owned and operated by P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, offers a menu of fresh, high-quality Asian-inspired cuisine featuring 35 fresh, hand-cut ingredients. Pei Wei also serves freshly prepared, wok’d to order dishes and because all items are made-to-order, guests can customize each dish to their liking.

Whether the holidays have your working late or your off work and doing the holiday shopping this season, Pei Wei is great selection for you and your friends or colleagues and the whole family. Explore the full Pei Wei Asian Diner menu to see what you'd like for lunch or dinner this week!

And Pei Wei offers a wide variety of gluten-free and vegetarian options so you should be able to find something to please everyone here.

Pei Wei® Asian Diner has three popular lettuce wraps: Traditional Chicken, Thai Chicken and Korean Steak. But for a limited time only they are celebrating the bold, fresh tastes of fall with a new addition to their lettuce wrap menu. Available now through December they will be serving the new Sriracha Pineapple Pork Lettuce Wraps:

This new wrap provides a sweet, spicy and bold complement to Pei Wei’s other threepopular lettuce wrap offerings. Sriracha Pineapple Pork Lettuce Wraps feature all-natural, wok-seared pork and a combination of fresh cut ingredients: pineapple, red onions, and red and green peppers, topped with a kick of Pei Wei’s own Sriracha sauce and then served with cool, crisp lettuce cups. Priced at just $6.95, this wrap is the perfect portion size and price for a fantastic light lunch.

Or check out the following meal options: Get your Sriracha Pineapple Pork Lettuce Wraps paired with Pei Wei’s Thai Wonton soup, a Vegetable Spring Roll or edamame. Or get your wrap also make a tasty, shareable starter at dinner before one of Pei Wei’s signature entrees or noodle bowls wok’d fresh to order.

Priced at just $6.95, Sriracha Pineapple Pork Lettuce Wraps feature all-natural, wok-seared pork and a combination of fresh cut ingredients—pineapple, red onions, and red and green peppers—topped with a kick of Pei Wei’s own Sriracha sauce and served with cool, crisp lettuce cups, offering guests the perfect light lunch. Try them paired with Pei Wei’s Thai Wonton soup, a Vegetable Spring Roll or edamame. Sriracha Pineapple Pork Lettuce Wraps also make a tasty, shareable starter at dinner before one of Pei Wei’s signature entrees or noodle bowls wok’d fresh to order.

After lunch, you can connect with Pei Wei:
Like Pei Wei on Facebook

Follow Pei Wei on Twitter

Follow Pei Wei on Pinterest

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Cheddar Bacon Pretzel Bites

December 1, 2013 Leave a Comment

I love homemade bread! Last year I had the chance to try Fleischmann’s Simply Homemade Bread Mixes, and I made this lovely loaf of wheat bread:

Check out the wheat bread: HERE.

The bread turned out just fabulous! So I was very excited when I was asked to try Fleischmann’s Simply Homemade Pretzel Mix! You can find this mix along with other Fleishmann’s Simply Homemade mixes in the baking section at your local market.

For this baking project, I decided to use the pretzel mix to make Cheddar Bacon Pretzel Bites. For these, I rolled the dough in to 1.5 inch balls (and I made some of them smaller, only because I didn’t know if they would rise). But you could also make actual pretzel shapes, or sticks, twists, bigger rolls, or even in to a bread loaf.

Either way you to choose to do it, this recipe makes for a great party appetizers or just a snack for the family!

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I’m linking up at Tidy Mom and these parties.

Filed Under: appetizers and snacks, breads and sides, Christmas, party ideas, Recipe of the Week, recipes Tagged With: bacon, bacon cheddar bread, bread, cheddar, pretzel

Flash in the Pan: Making Restaurant-Style Pan Sauces

November 30, 2013 Leave a Comment

“This post is from Instawares restaurant supplies company, a B2B ecommerce site that specializes in commercial kitchen equipment for home and business.”

One of the most skillful cooks in a good restaurant is the “saucier,” a specialist in making sauces. He – or increasingly, she – is often the highest-paid member of the kitchen staff, after the chef. The saucier’s skill makes the difference between a good dish and an outstanding dish.

Some of these sauces are prepared right in the pan after the entree is cooked. Chefs describe them as “a la minute,” a French phrase meaning they’re made to order each time. Informally they’re called pan sauces because they use the bits and juices left on the pan. Pan sauces taste impressive and they’re easy to make with a bit of practice. Here’s how to make a pan sauce with lamb chops. The same basic technique works for any other pan-seared entree.

You need to prepare a few useful ingredients in advance. The most important is some broth to provide the body of the sauce. Make lamb broth if you have the chance or use commercial beef broth. Try to find a brand with low salt. Simmer the broth until about 1/3 of it has evaporated, then freeze it in quarter-cup portions for later use. Another useful ingredient is red wine or dry sherry, simmered down to a thick and syrupy consistency. It adds a lot of flavor without diluting the sauce.

Sear the chops in the hot pan to brown and crisp the surfaces. Then reduce the heat slightly and cook the chops medium-rare. Browning is important because that’s where the sauce gets most of its flavor. Take the chops out of your skillet and set them aside to keep warm under a loose cover of aluminum foil. Pour a splash of red wine into the pan and swirl it around. Let it reduce down to about a spoonful, then add a quarter-cup of broth.

Stir the pan vigorously with a wooden spoon or a silicon spatula, scraping the bottom to lift up and dissolve the browned-on juices from your lamb chop. Bring it to a quick boil and let the sauce reduce to concentrate the flavors. Taste the sauce as is simmers. If it needs more flavor add a few drops of the concentrated wine.

The natural gelatin from the broth will thicken the sauce as it simmers. Test it periodically by dipping a spoon into it. As long as the sauce drips from the spoon it’s too thin. You’ll know it’s thickened enough when it coats the back of the spoon and slides off in a wide sheet, rather than individual drops. Finish

the sauce by dropping a half-teaspoon of cold butter into the pan and swirling or whisking it in. Butter gives the sauces added richness and an attractive sheen.

For a restaurant-style presentation spoon the sauce over your chops and drizzle a small pool of it in a semicircle around the plate.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: cooking, sauce

Amaretto Christmas Cookie Fudge from Judy of Season of Sweets

November 29, 2013 3 Comments

Who doesn’t love fudge around the holidays? Today we’ve got a great take on fudge…an Amaretto Christmas Cookie Fudge! This recipe comes to us from Judy of Season of Sweets. And it looks really yummy! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Christmas, desserts, recipes Tagged With: amaretto, cherries, fudge, white chocolate

HUGE Silhouette Black Friday Sale

November 28, 2013 Leave a Comment

Wouldn’t you love a Silhouette for Christmas? They allow you cut out letters and shapes with ease using a number of materials, including paper, card stock, vinyl, and more! And they are so great for working on school projects, do-it-yourself decor and craft projects, card making, and more!

Right now is the perfect time to shop for you one. For Black Friday and through December 8, they are having a super sale where you can save 40%.

Here’s a little info on the product packages that will be on sale:

(1) A Silhouette CAMEO®, Silhouette Studio® Designer Edition Software, a dust cover (the color is decided by Silhouette), a $25 download card, a hook, a scraper, a spatula, and a pick-me-up® tool for $229.99. Retail price for all of this would total $406.93 (over 40% savings!)

(2) A Silhouette Portrait®, Silhouette Studio® Designer Edition Software, a dust cover (the color is decided by Silhouette), a $25 download card, a hook, a scraper, a spatula, and a pick-me-up® tool for $129.99. Retail price for all of this would total $286.93 (over 40% savings!)

(3) A Silhouette CAMEO®, a Silhouette Portrait®, and two $25 download cards for $299.99. That’s right: If you buy a Silhouette CAMEO® at full price, you get two $25 download cards and a Silhouette Portrait® ABSOLUTELY FREE! Retail price for all of this would be $406.93 (over 40% savings!)

(4) 40% off consumable products at http://www.silhouetteamerica.com/black. This excludes machines, subscriptions, download and gift cards. Cannot be combined with any other offers. Rain checks not available.

AND they are also offering FREE SHIPPING on orders over $25!

Disclosure: For participating in the Silouette Black Friday promotion, I received a Silhouette Machine, free of charge. The opinions are my own.

Filed Under: crafts, product review, saving money Tagged With: Black Friday, Silhouette

Friday Favorites – Week 194

November 28, 2013 Leave a Comment

Happy Thanksgiving! Welcome to Friday Favorites! Due to the busy holiday week, there will be no features this week, but I’ll be back next week with some great Christmas recipes and projects to feature! Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Join this week’s party! Link up below!

Filed Under: Friday Favorites

Guest Post: Christmas Rum Cake from Sharon & Denise at BeBetsy

November 26, 2013 2 Comments

Today we continue our journey through Christmas Treat Land with our friends Sharon & Denise of BeBetsy. And they have a very special treat for us, a Christmas Rum Cake! Yum! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Christmas, desserts, Guest Post, recipes Tagged With: cake, rum cake

Ornament Wreath Giveaway from CVS/Pharmacy

November 26, 2013 12 Comments

Is CVS on your list of places to shop this holiday season? If not, it should be! They have fabulous gifts under $25 for the whole family, including bath & body products, ornaments candy, housewares, dvds, photo gifts, and more!

They also have a great selection of Christmas Decor. I was very excited when I got a chance to pick out something from their holiday selection to feature here, and I was thrilled to find this Ornament Wreath. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Christmas, decorating, Giveaways, product review, Wreaths Tagged With: CVS, decor

Black Friday Shopping with Target #MyKindofHoliday

November 25, 2013 Leave a Comment

How do you spend the day after Thanksgiving? Do you brave the Black Friday crowds?

I usually spend the day after Thanksgiving pulling out my Christmas decorations and decking the halls. And sometimes I do a little shopping.

I used to really get in to the Black Friday shopping. Shortly after I started blogging, I created a 2-part post series with tips for Black Friday and Holiday shopping. Here are the links if you’d like to check them out: Part 1 and Part 2. [Read more…]

Filed Under: saving money, shopping Tagged With: Black Friday, Target